The COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak has already affected numerous esports leagues and events, including the Call of Duty League. Yesterday, the league announced that all matches in the 2020 season will move to an online environment. There’s no word on how the matches will work, like who will host, but we should receive details soon.
However, we may already have some information on how the games will be scheduled. Of course, the homestands are all canceled, so it doesn’t make sense to only play matches on weekends. That’s why the CDL is reportedly considering spreading matches out across the coming weeks.
Taking a page from the CWL
Before the COVID-19 outbreak occurred, the CDL featured home series events every other weekend. This had lasted for ten weeks, with the five events all going smoothly. But that’s been thrown out the window now, forcing the league to move the matches online.
Call of Duty esports has featured online play before in multiple titles. Games like Call of Duty: Black Ops III and WWII had Pro League matches played from the comfort of players’ homes. The casters would still cast the matches from the Call of Duty World League studios, though.
Well, it appears that a similar format to the old CWL will be returning. According to industry insider Rod “Slasher” Breslau, Activision Blizzard is considering playing CDL matches on a weekly basis.
Activision Blizzard is currently working with team owners across the Call of Duty League and Overwatch League to reschedule each season in a streamlined manner by spreading games out over the week, though nothing has been finalized, sources tell me https://t.co/LPX8Lj0S61
— Rod Breslau (@Slasher) March 13, 2020
If this rumor holds true, longtime fans of Call of Duty esports should see a familiar format return. Of course, this is only a report from an inside source. But that source is Slasher, who is extremely reliable when it comes to rumors. So, it’s likely we’ll see the CDL move to weekly matches rather than playing every other weekend.
Make sure to keep up with Daily Esports for all CDL news.
